Plural range pressure regulator construction or the like and the method of making the same or the like

ABSTRACT

A plural range pressure regulator construction having a housing provided with an inlet and an outlet separated by a valve seat that is controlled by a valve member that is interconnected to a flexible wall carried by the housing. Biasing means are carried by the housing for acting on one side of the wall to tend to move the wall in one direction relative to the housing, the biasing means comprising a plurality of separate spring means each acting on the wall to provide one pressure range for the pressure regulator construction. The housing has a storage space for storing one of the spring means so that the same will not act on the wall whereby the remaining spring means acting on the wall will provide another pressure range for the pressure regulator construction.

This application is a divisional patent application of its co-pendingparent application Ser. No. 320,520, filed Jan. 2, 1973, now U.S. Pat.No. 3,825,029.

This invention relates to a plural range pressure regulator constructionor the like as well as to a method for making such a pressure regulatorconstruction or the like.

It is well known that pressure regulators have been provided for fuelburning apparatus to maintain the fuel being supplied from a fuel sourceto the fuel burning apparatus at a proper pressure level for properoperation of the fuel burning apparatus. It is also well known thatvarious sources of fuel can be provided for the same fuel burningapparatus, such as a natural gas source and an LPG source whereby theoutlet pressure of the pressure regulator must be different for thedifferent fuel sources in order for the fuel burning apparatus tofunction properly.

Accordingly, it is a feature of this invention to provide an improvedplural range pressure regulator construction that is adapted to beeasily converted from one outlet pressure thereof to another outletpressure thereof.

In particular, one embodiment of this invention provides a plural rangepressure regulator construction having a housing means provided with aninlet and an outlet separated by a valve seat opened and closed by amovable valve member that is carried by a flexible wall or diaphragmwhich, in turn, is carried by the housing means. Biasing means arecarried by the housing means for acting on one side of the wall to tendto move the flexible wall or diaphragm in one direction relative to thehousing means. The biasing means comprises a plurality of separatespring means each acting on the wall to provide one pressure range forthe pressure regulator construction, such as for an LPG fuel source. Thehousing means has a storage space for storing one of the spring means sothat the same will not act on the wall whereby the remaining springmeans acting on the wall will provide another pressure range for theregulator construction, such as for a natural gas fuel source.

In this manner, the plural range pressure regulator construction canreadily be converted between different outlet pressures thereof for usewith different fuel sources by merely changing the location of one ofthe spring means thereof as will be apparent hereinafter.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedplural range pressure regulator construction or the like, theconstruction having one or more of the novel features set forth above orhereinafter shown or described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method for making sucha plural range pressure regulator construction or the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved plural rangebiasing construction, the construction having one or more of the novelfeatures set forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method for making sucha plural range biasing construction or the like.

Other objects, uses and advantages of this invention are apparent from areading of this description with proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the plural range pressure regulatorconstruction of this invention set for one pressure range thereof.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and illustrates the plural rangepressure regulator construction set for another pressure range thereof.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the various parts utilized toconvert the pressure regulator construction from one pressure rangethereof to another pressure range thereof.

While the various features of this invention are hereinafter describedand illustrated as being particularly adapted for providing a pluralrange pressure regulator construction for a fuel burning apparatus, itis to be understood that the various features of this invention can beutilized singly or any combination thereof to provide a plural rangebiasing means for other devices as desired.

Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, because the drawings are merely utilized toillustrate one of the wide variety of uses of this invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the improved plural range pressureregulator construction of this invention is generally indicated by thereference numeral 10 and comprises a housing means 11 having an inlet 12and an outlet 13 interconnected together by a resilient valve seat means14 that is adapted to be controlled by a valve member 15 disposed on theinlet side of the valve seat 14 and being interconnected by a stem 16thereof that projects through the valve seat 14 to a flexible diaphragmor wall 17 carried by the housing means 11 and cooperating therewith todefine a chamber 18 on the outlet side of the diaphragm 17 and anotherchamber 19 on the other side 20 of the diaphragm 17 for a purposehereinafter described.

The upper side 20 of the diaphragm 17 has a metallic backup plate 21secured thereto by the stem 16 of the valve member 15 in the mannerillustrated with the backup plate 21 having a plurality of upwardly benttabs 22 to provide a spring retaining function as will be apparenthereinafter.

The housing 11 has an internally threaded bore portion 23 leading to thechamber 19 and defining a storage space 24 for a purpose hereinafterdescribed, the storage space 24 having its upper end closed by aremovable cover member or end cap 25 threaded to the threaded portion 23and having an annular flange 26 thereof adapted to abut against the topsurface 27 of the housing 11 to limit the amount of insertion of thecover member 25 into the housing means 11.

A first spring retainer 28 is of annular configuration and has its outerperiphery 29 formed in such a manner that the same can be threaded tothe threaded portion 23 of the housing 11 and thus be positioned in apreselected axial position therein in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2.

Another annular spring retainer 30 of this invention is adapted to beloosely disposed in the threaded portion 23 of the housing 11 and haveits upper surface 31 abut against the lower surface 32 of the threadedportion 33 of the end cap 25 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1 or havethe surface 31 thereof disposed on upwardly directed tabs 34 of theother spring retainer 28 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2, the springretainer 30 having an opening 35 passing therethrough and defining acylindrical flange 36 extending therefrom. Similarly, the other annularspring retainer 28 has an opening 37 passing therethrough and defining acylindrical flange 38 extending therefrom.

If desired, the annular spring retainer 28 can have suitable notches 39formed therein to facilitate the inward and outward threading thereof inthe threaded portion 23 of the housing 11 by an appropriate toolinserted in such notches 39.

A biasing means of this invention is generally indicated by thereference numeral 40 comprises a pair of coiled compression springs 41and 42 adapted to be concentrically disposed in the housing means 11 inthe manner illustrated in FIG. 1 with the lower ends 43 and 44 of thesprings 41 and 42 respectively bearing against the backup plate 21 ofthe flexible wall 17 to act in a direction to tend to open the valvemember 15 away from the valve seat 14 for a purpose that will beapparent hereinafter, the lower end 44 of the outer spring 42 nestingwithin the tabs 22 of the backup plate 21 whereby the tabs 22 provide aspring retaining function for the spring 42.

The upper end 45 of the outer spring 42 encircles the cyclindricalflange 38 of the threaded spring retainer 28 and bears against the undersurface 46 thereof in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The upper end 47 of the inner spring 41 is adapted to encircle thecylindrical flange 36 of the upper spring retainer 30 and bear againstthe under surface 48 thereof.

In this manner, it can be seen that when both springs 41 and 42 areassembled in the housing means 11 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1,the spring retainers 28 and 30 support the upper ends 45 and 47 of thesprings 42 and 41 while the lower ends 43 and 44 thereof respectivelyact against the flexible wall 17 of the pressure regulator construction10 to tend to move the valve member 15 away from the valve seat 14 witha certain force that is the sum of the forces of the two springs 41 and42 acting downwardly in FIG. 1.

Thus, when a fuel source is interconnected to the inlet 12, such as anLPG fuel source the fuel passes through the open valve seat 14 to theoutlet 13. However, the pressure of the fuel passing through the openvalve seat 14 builds up in the chamber 18 and acts against the underside 49 of the flexible wall 17 in opposition to the force of thesprings 41 and 42 tend to move the valve member 15 upwardly in FIG. 1and, thus, close the valve seat 14. In this manner, the pressure in thechamber 18 and, thus, to the outlet 13 is maintained at a certainpressure value regardless of the pressure value of the fuel beingdirected to the inlet 12 of the housing means 11 as the position of thevalve member 15 relative to the seat 14 will assure that the fuelpressure in the chamber 18 and being directed to the outlet 13 willremain at a certain pressure level as determined by the combined forceof the springs 41 and 42 in a manner well known in the art.

When it is desired to change the pressure range of the pressureregulator construction 10 to another pressure range thereof, such as forbeing interconnected to a natural gas fuel source, the cap 25 isunthreaded from the threaded portion 23 of the housing 11 and removedtherefrom as well as the spring retainer 30 and inner spring 41. Thespring retainer 30 is then turned over in the manner illustrated in FIG.2 and inserted back through the threaded portion 23 of the housing 11 tohave the surface 31 thereof rest against the upwardly directed tabs 34of the lower spring retainer 28 as illustrated in FIG. 2. If the endcoil 47 of the inner spring 41 has been tightly fitted around thecylindrical flange 36 of the spring retainer 30, the same will haveremained attached thereto so that when inverting the spring retainer 30to insert the same downwardly through the threaded portion 23 of thehousing 11 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2, the inner spring 41 nowprojects upwardly therefrom out through the threaded portion 23 and isadapted to have its end 44 received in a chamber 50 formed in the endcap 25 when the end cap 25 is again threaded to the threaded portion 23of the housing 11 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2. Thus, the innerspring 41 is compressed between the end cap 25 and the spring retainer30 in the storage space 24 of the housing means 11 so that the same hasno affect on the movable wall 17 of the pressure regulator construction10. Of course, if the spring 41 becomes separated from the springretainer 30 during the changeover from the condition of FIG. 1 to thecondition of FIG. 2, the spring 41 is inserted on top of the invertedretainer 30 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2 to be stored in thestorage space 24 as previously stated.

When the pressure regulator construction 10 is disposed in the conditionillustrated in FIG. 2, it can be seen that only the compression spring42 is now acting in a downward direction on the flexible wall 17 so thatthe valve member 15 is moved away from the valve seat 14 by only theforce of the compression spring 42 whereby the pressure regulatorconstruction 10 will tend to maintain a lesser pressure value of thefuel in the chamber 18 and at the outlet 13 thereof than when bothsprings 41 and 42 were utilized in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1.

Therefore, it can be seen that this invention provides a pressureregulator construction that can readily be converted from one pressurerange thereof to another pressure range thereof by merely changing theposition of one spring thereof from a stored condition thereof to anactive force applying condition thereof in a simple and effectivemanner.

Thus, when it is desired to convert the regulator construction 10 fromthe condition illustrated in FIG. 2 to the condition illustrated in FIG.1, the end cap 25 is removed and the spring 41 and its retainer 30 areinverted from the position illustrated in FIG. 2 to the positionillustrated in FIG. 1 whereby when the end cap 25 is replaced, bothsprings 41 and 42 will now act on the movable wall 17 for the reasonspreviously set forth.

Of course, the chamber 19 of the pressure regulator construction 10 isadapted to be interconnected to the atmosphere in any desired manner.For example, in the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the housingmeans 11 is provided with a passage means 51 leading from the chamber 19to the exterior of the housing means 11 and having a suitable restrictor52 therein to slow down the movement of the diaphragm 17 from itsvarious operating positions in much the same manner as a dashpot or thelike.

Thus, it can be seen that this invention not only provides an improvedplural range pressure regulator construction and method of making thesame, but also this invention provides an improved plural range biasingconstruction and method of making the same.

While the form and the method of this invention now preferred has beendescribed and illustrated as required by the Patent Statutes, it is tobe understood that other forms and methods can be utilized and stillcome within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A method for making a plural range biasing constructioncomprising the steps of providing a housing means having a movable part,disposing biasing means in said housing means for acting on one side ofsaid part to tend to move said part in one direction relative to saidhousing means, said biasing means comprising a plurality of separatespring means, causing each spring means to act on said part to provideone biasing range for said construction, storing one of said springmeans completely in a storage space of said housing means so that thesame will not act on said part whereby the remaining spring means actingon said part will provide another biasing range for said construction,forming said one spring means and said remaining spring means fromcoiled compression springs, causing said springs to be concentricallydisposed and each having one end thereof operatively engaging said partwhen acting on said part to provide said one biasing range for saidconstruction, and forming said storage space for said one spring meansto be located in aligned relation with said remaining spring means andadjacent the other end thereof so as to be completely spaced from saidpart a distance at least equal to the length of said remaining springmeans whereby said one spring means is out of operative engagement withsaid part and completely spaced therefrom a distance at least equal tothe length of said remaining spring means when said other biasing rangeis being provided.
 2. A method for making a plural range biasingconstruction comprising the steps of providing a housing means having amovable part, disposing biasing means in said housing means for actingon one side of said part to tend to move said part in one directionrelative to said housing means, said biasing means comprising aplurality of separate spring means, causing each spring means to act onsaid part to provide one biasing range for said construction, storingone of said spring means in a storage space of said housing means sothat the same will not act on said part whereby the remaining springmeans acting on said part will provide another biasing range for saidconstruction, forming said one spring means and said remaining springmeans from coiled compression springs, causing said springs to beconcentrically disposed when acting on said part to provide said onebiasing range for said construction, forming said storage space for saidone spring means to be located in aligned relation with said remainingspring means and adjacent one end thereof, closing one end of saidstorage space that is remote from said one end of said remaining springmeans with a removable cover means of said housing means, and causingsaid one spring means to be stored in compressed relation between saidcover means and said one end of said remaining spring means when beingstored in said storage space.
 3. A method for making a plural rangebiasing construction as set forth in claim 2 and including the steps offorming said cover means with a spring retainer, causing said one springmeans to have one end thereof bearing against said spring retainer whenthe other end of said one spring means is acting on said part to providesaid one biasing range of said construction, and causing said one springmeans to be disposed between said cover means and said spring retainerwhen said one spring is stored in said storage space.
 4. A method formaking a plural range biasing construction as set forth in claim 3 andincluding the steps of forming said housing means with an internallythreaded portion, threading an annular spring retainer to said threadedportion, causing said one end of said remaining spring means to bearagainst the same, and causing said one spring means to project throughsaid annular spring retainer when said one spring means is acting onsaid part to provide said one biasing range of said construction.
 5. Amethod for making a plural range biasing construction as set forth inclaim 4 and including the step of threading said cover member to saidthreaded portion of said housing when closing said one end of saidstorage space.